I am not just teaching a language. I am learning people.
For their protection, I am using fictitious names here. And these are just five of my many students — five souls who really captured my attention and my heart.
1. Mark - The Man Who Needed a Buffer
Mark enrolled because he needed to be fluent at work. He deals with clients from Western countries and he must speak English well. So I developed learning materials for him following a Topic-Based Communicative Approach with a Vocabulary Focus.
But as our encounters became more frequent, he started sharing his day-to-day experiences. Later on, he started confiding in me. He told me he finally found someone to share his ideas with. Talking with me lessened his burden because he could tell me the things he could not tell his boss, his wife, or his colleagues. He said he didn't have to worry because I don't know the people he's talking about. Good point. :) For Mark, I was not just a teacher. I was a booster and a buffer — someone who absorbs the pressure so he can breathe and keep going.
2. Andrew - The Boy Who Needed to Find His Value
Andrew enrolled to enhance his vocabulary and improve his spoken English. He is Vietnamese but based in California, studying in a school there. At first, he said he just needed daily conversation to get used to speaking English.
But as we went on, I observed that he needed more than daily talking. So I shifted to a Functional English approach — teaching vocabulary for specific settings, doing drills in conversation, and making him express himself in real situations.
During class, I learned his problem was more than English. He was emotionally and psychologically burdened. He was in a new country, trying to belong. So I revised the drills. I made them not just about language, but about expressing himself better — knowing his strengths and weaknesses and realizing his value as a person.
For Andrew, I played the role of a teacher and a guidance counselor. He didn't just need to learn how to speak. He needed to know that his voice mattered.
3. Mira - The Woman Who Thought She Was Late
Mira booked classes to improve her fluency. She can already speak English and express herself well. She only gets lost sometimes because of grammar slips and pronunciation.
As we talked, Mira was quite open about her feelings. I learned about her perception of success and her insecurities. She fears failure because people her age are already successful and she thinks she is not.
Every time we discuss something in class, her insecurity shows. I can't help but give her unsolicited advice — not about grammar, but about life. I tell her she doesn't have to compare herself to others, that comparison will not do her any good. Her situation is not the same as theirs. Maybe her time to succeed has just not come yet.
I want her to understand that success comes at the right time. For Mira, I want to be the person who reminds her that she is not late. She is right on time for her own life.
4. Luigi - The Child Carrying His Mother's Dream
Luigi wanted to achieve a band 7.5 to 8.0 in the IELTS Speaking test. He knows a lot of academic expressions, but he cannot use them correctly in sentences.
During practice, he doesn't follow corrections or answer structure. I always reminded him, but he didn't mind. When his mom contacted me, I realized it was his mom who aspired for him to get that score. As he said, his mom's ambition brought him to my class.
When he took his first IELTS test and failed, he spent the entire class talking about it — sharing his feelings, identifying the faults of the examiners and the test itself.
His experience made me realize how difficult it is for a child to learn and do things for the realization of his parent's dream. This situation left me speechless and clueless at first. I didn't know how to make Luigi focus so his mom's ambition could be fulfilled.
Then I understood. Luigi doesn't need more pressure. He needs someone to understand his purpose — not his mother's purpose, but his own. He needs someone he can trust who will listen before teaching. And I want to be that someone.
5. Shaira - The Woman Who Needed a Friend She Could Trust
Shaira's ambition to attain fluency is great. She wants to go to America to be with her son and husband and work there. She did not finish high school, but her desire to be fluent is at the highest level. I developed materials for her following a Lexical-Situational or Vocabulary-Driven Communicative Approach.
As we discussed things every meeting, I learned about her aversion to people around her. She doesn't trust people because she has been scammed more than three times. She has a mother, a sister, and two friends, but she cannot confide her emotions to any of them. She only hangs out with her daughter.
So I played the role of a confidant, a friend, and a counselor to her.
For Shaira, English is not just a ticket to America. It is a way to prove to herself that she can still trust, still learn, still dream.
More than learning a language, these students need someone who knows their value, someone who understands their purpose, and someone they can trust.
In 10 years, I have learned that an ESL teacher is never just an ESL teacher.
Sometimes we are a buffer for a tired husband and employee.
Sometimes we are a counselor for a lonely boy in a foreign country.
Sometimes we are a mirror that shows a woman she is not a failure.
Sometimes we are a safe space for a child pressured by a dream that is not his own.
Sometimes we are the one friend a woman can trust after the world has scammed her.
I don't just teach English. I try to help each student heal, grow, and believe in themselves.
And if they learn English along the way, that is beautiful.
But if they learn that they are valuable, that they have a purpose,
and that there is someone who genuinely cares —
that is everything.
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